Chunky Monkey!

Izaak's one-month checkup went well, he's healthy, happy and now weighs 11lbs, 6oz and is 22 1/2ins in length. He's gained about 3lbs and over 2ins since birth! Another neat thing happened night before last... he slept for about 5 1/2 hours straight!!

Guess Who is Already One Month Old!!

Yesterday was Izaak's one-month birthday (technically), and today we have another well-baby exam at the pediatrician. Turns out, babies require a lot of time and attention... who knew!! Hahaha :) Things are great, he's such an amazing little creature! It is admittedly difficult to spend time in front of a computer updating a blog when the little guy always wants to eat or snuggle or be changed. He eats about 8 times a day and each feeding takes at least an hour. So by my calculations, just feeding Izaak is a full-time job! Speaking of jobs, I still need to figure out the exact day I will be returning to work and if I'm returning full-time, or a couple days a week, AND we still need to get daycare squared away. I'm still working on getting birth announcements put together and hopefully will be able to get them mailed out in the next week or two.

Allow me to assure you that we have indeed been taking tons of photos, getting them to my computer just isn't always quick and convenient. In the meanwhile, here are a couple of pics from the hospital:

Day 22!

It's been twenty-two fabulous and exciting days with Izaak so far. Joe and I are enjoying our little dude immensely, even though the baby seems to have his days and nights confused...

My parents have been here since July 3rd and have had tons of snuggle time with their first grandbaby boy. We drove to Myrtle Beach to spend the 4th with Joe's family and had a really nice time. 

We had Izaak's two-week dr's appt on Friday, even though he was technically three weeks at that point. He's doing great; weighs a little more than ten pounds, and is getting bigger and stronger daily.

[Well, Izaak needed feeding and then I fell asleep so will have to write more later!]

The Arrival

Wow, I’ve got some catching up to do with this blog!! Since I last wrote, a LOT has happened, including Izaak’s entrance into the world! I had another appt with the dr on the 16^th and she determined that I had gone from 0 to 3cm dilated between Tuesday and Thursday. I was hooked up to the fetal monitor again, apparently all was well and she set my induction date for Monday. I woke up around 2 or 3am the next morning with what I had thought was a disagreement between my stomach and whatever it was that I had for dinner the night before. I woke Joe up around 4 or 5am and told him that I didn’t think he was going to be able to go to work that day. Called my (sleeping) dr and told her that I was having strong contractions that were about 5 minutes apart and she drowsily said “Ok, see you at the hospital”. We arrived at the hospital sometime after 7am. After I got checked in and settled in, they determined that I was at 5cm and I received the glorious epidural and some Pitocin. And I found out that my dr (the lady) was no longer on call and the other guy would be doing the delivery (the less personable dude from my dr’s office).

After about 14 hours of labor and 2 ½ hours of pushing (my epidural had worn off for much of the pushing portion - ouch!) Izaak finally joined us in the breathing world on June 17th, at 4:42pm. He came out weighing 8lbs, 7.4oz, he was 20in long, and is cute as can be! I had the same nurse for the entire labor and she was great - I need to send her a thank you card. It was just her and Joe in the room for most of the time. The doctor missed the delivery, the labor nurse called him twice but he showed up a bit late. Joe didn’t end up getting to cut the cord because all of a sudden I guess that I pushed with a little extra pizzazz and the nurse had to do the delivery. I heard something along the lines of, “Whoa! Ok, don’t push. Call the doctor again! Uh… ok, push!” and then there was a slimy, wriggling baby on my belly instead of inside it! The doctor dude did arrive in time to deliver the placenta (rather roughly) and patch me back up. I asked how many stitches he used and he said something about a couple rows of stitches and a bunch of other single stitches. Certainly didn’t put my mind at ease, with good reason I suppose since I’m still quite sore and not nearly healed two weeks later. A “third-degree tear” is no joke apparently.

Joe’s parents drove down from Myrtle Beach to meet their new grandson and got to hang out with the kitties at our place for a couple nights that weekend. They also got him some really cute outfits of which he’s already worn all but the one I’m saving for 4^th of July - a onsie that says “Daddy’s Little Firecracker”… how perfect is that?! Joe will be lighting a fireworks show on the fourth, of course. My parents will be flying in from Phoenix for a visit tomorrow and will be staying with us for about a week and a half. We’re going to head up to Myrtle Beach for the fourth and stay with Joe’s family, I’m really excited that we get to have everyone together, Joe’s sister’s family will be there too!! So far, Izaak does great in the car, put him in his car seat and he’s out like a light.

So far, we’ve gone thru about a bajillion diapers and a ton of outfit changes - mostly baby outfit changes. Joe stayed home with us the first week after his birth and then it was just the little dude and me last week. I admittedly had a couple of rough days. I’ve been having a terrible time with breast-feeding and add in a lack of sleep and there were times that I was just sobbing! My crying irritated me because I’m not much of a crier, which in turn made me cry harder. A little sleep and perspective seems to be what I needed, my awesome friend Lori stopped by on Wednesday with lunch from Jim ‘n Nicks (a yummy BBQ place with tasty tacos and to-die-for cheesy biscuits) and we discussed her first (at times frustrating) weeks with her newborn. It’s comforting to know that I’m not alone with these feelings and it’s good to be reminded that hormones from the little miracle production (aka Izaak) tend to bring on the waterworks. Joe also helped by pointing out that the most important thing is that the baby has been getting fed and he’s thriving. So what if we have to supplement with some formula? The baby is doing great!

I was hoping that more of the baby bump would go away faster. Looking on the bright side, my ankles and feet have returned! I was so puffy in the last couple of months of pregnancy and somehow was even puffier after the delivery (they pumped a lot of IV fluids during labor and delivery). In the first week home, I dropped at least half of the weight I had gained. The other half will be the challenge though! I am nowhere near fitting in my normal clothes so am still rocking anything that has stretch and a bit of looseness. Yoga pants are my friend.

Izaak is beyond a perfect little angel. Granted, he prefers sleeping during the day and making assorted noises at night and is a poo & pee machine, but he’s just so darn loveable! Even when I’m frustrated with being tired and his wailing about the fact that he’d just rather have a bottle, I still just want to smooch his little head. He kind of resembles Benjamin Button sometimes but is so precious regardless! I think we'll keep him :)